Progress Reports and Narrative Reports
Progress Reports:
Physicians may request progress
reports to keep them informed as to how the client is doing and what you are
working on. You may want to call the physician and ask if they want/require
progress reports.
Sending the progress notes is a
great way to build a working relationship with a physician or other health care
professional.
With HIPAA rules and regulations,
you will probably need to have the client sign a release of records that will
allow you to communicate with the physician about their case.
A progress report can be a simple
chart that outlines what improvement has been made in the client’s condition.
(see sample in appendix)
Narrative Report
Narrative Reports are usually
requested by attorneys to summarize the client’s injuries, treatments and
progress. They use these reports to prove to the insurance company just how
badly the person was injured. They will use the reports to try and determine
the amount of the settlement that is due to the client.
It is usually in letter
form and contains a generalization of what treatment has been done with the
client to resolve their injuries.
It is necessary to keep accurate
chart notes so that you can write a narrative report.
You can ask the attorney for more
about what details they want in the report. (See also:
Hands Heal: Communication, Documentation, and Insurance Billing for Manual
Therapists” by Diana L. Thompson)
